distance makes the heart grow weaker
by signelchan
Summary: Some say that when two people are apart, their hearts grow fonder for one another. But Jo has always equated fondness with weakness, and there is no way she's going to let herself get weak just because her and Brick are separated. Besides, it's not like they were ever a thing, and they weren't going to become a thing, not ever. [Written for Kaylabow.]


_i. ticket_

Holding the ticket he had been given with both hands, Brick tried his hardest to make eye contact with Jo, but the way she was focusing on what he was holding, it was hard to do. In the time they had been given to spend together, they had grown close as both rivals and romantic interests, but now it was time for him to go, and neither of them wanted that.

_ii. excuse_

Eventually, with the silence between them growing to be too much to withstand, he had to take that leap of faith and get onto the plane that he was expected to board, meaning he had to leave Jo standing there, the only excuse he had to go being that he _had_ to do it. And she remained there, watching for him long after he was gone, the slightest of broken hearts taking residence in her chest.

_iii. agreement_

She could be strong. She knew that she was stronger than any emotions that she could possibly express, and she had to move on. He'd be back someday, and she couldn't just spend all the time he was gone moping around like some love sick loser. She was above this, and she knew that he would be in complete agreement with her if he knew what she was thinking, wherever he was.

_iv. text_

For the first few weeks of their separation, the hardest thing for Jo was not the fact that she couldn't talk to Brick whenever she wanted like normal, but rather that there weren't the heartfelt good morning text messages that he sent her each and every day. In fact, there was no reason whatsoever for her to check her phone anymore, because the only person who sent her anything was off doing something for the military he loved almost as much as he lov—er, liked her.

_v. shame_

The first time one of his fellow soldiers asked Brick about who he had waiting for him back home, he was hesitant to reply. What if he tried to make him feel shame for only having someone who he could barely consider his girlfriend? But he didn't want to lie to the guy, and so he explained the entire situation as quickly as he could, making complete sure to make it sound like there was definite romantic tones coming from both parties. The guy didn't bother to question it, because he himself didn't even have friends back home.

_vi. sketch_

In what little free time he would get, he would start drawing little sketches of clothing ideas that would enter his head when seeing everyone in their drab military uniforms, and it wasn't until several pages and a few close calls with commanders that he realized that each and every model he was drawing looked just like Jo. He really missed her, and his artwork was showing it.

_vii. tasty_

Having no way to go out every night to dine with someone who would gallantly pay for her meals, during the time he was gone, Jo had to teach herself to cook and try to gain some sense of making things edible, let alone tasty. After a week of burning everything she attempted to make, she resigned herself to the fact that she was either going to have to eat out alone, or starve waiting for Brick to come back to cook for her.

_viii. snoring_

There was always a loud rumbling of people snoring in the bunker, and each and every night, without fail, it kept Brick from falling asleep, because he was so used to the quiet of his place. The only noises he'd hear in the night would be cars going by, which were nearly silent compared to the snores that kept him awake and thinking about the person he missed so dearly.

_ix. peaks_

Each time the squad had to go on practice missions, normally tests of endurance where they had to cross plains until they reached the peaks of nearby hills, there was always a moment where he would feel like giving up; in those moments, he would think of Jo and how she would never let him live it down if he did give up, and he would continue on to make her proud, even if she wasn't there.

_x. papers_

Every morning the commanders would hand out letters from loved ones to the soldiers who so badly wanted them, and every morning Brick would get to hear the rustle of papers all around him, but never get one himself. He didn't expect to get anything, because Jo was definitely not the kind of woman who would send him anything, but then there was one morning where he did get a letter, and all it said was that he needed to come home soon, because she missed him. Faintly, at the bottom, he could see where the paper had been erased on, and when he inspected further, he saw that she had written something along the lines of "I love you" and he knew he turned bright red when he saw that.

_xi. numbers_

Two months in to this separation, Jo began to start counting down the days until when she'd get to see Brick again. While she'd never ever admit that she wanted to see him because she felt something towards him (she had tried and erased the evidence, and hopefully he hadn't noticed it), she needed to see how long it would be until she would get to see him again. The numbers of the days got higher and higher until she was trying to count down from double digits, and it was then she realized how hopeless this all was.

_xii. ears_

There was a morning, a little while later, where Jo woke up and things just felt different. It felt like something big had happened and she had missed it, even though she woke up at the crack of dawn, and so she had to investigate. It didn't take much searching to find what had happened, as the offending person was asleep on her couch, and she could feel her heart fluttering and her ears warming up as she came closer to him, just to see if he was really there. Her way of checking was decided in the heat of the moment, and as she drew her face closer to his, she really hoped he was actually asleep…

_xiii. mate_

…which, naturally, he was. The small, gentle kiss she gave him wasn't anything special, except it was the first kiss she had ever been part of, and it made those flutters spread all the way through her body. This guy, whom she had been apart from for so long, had been given the chance to come home for a bit, and he chose to come to her place to surprise her. If there was any sign that maybe they were meant to be more than just friends, that they were romantic mates, this might just have been it.

_xiv. feeling_

She had to back away from him quickly after that realization, because there was a wave of feelings she had never before experienced coming over her. Feelings that made her want to kiss him again, that made her want to wake him up and actually kiss him while he was aware of what she was doing. While she stood there, shaking and showing rare weakness, he began to stir, stretching a bit before opening his eyes and seeing her right in front of him. The smile that appeared on his face only made the feelings within her that much worse.

xv. pierce

Two things happened at once, she backed away further, and he let out an excited scream loud enough that it would pierce the heart of anyone who swore off love forever. Hearing him plus seeing him was just too much for Jo to handle, and she screamed as well, which in turn made Brick even more excited about what was happening—and that was without knowing what had happened in the moments before he woke up.

_xvi. makeout_

Once they calmed down and were able to talk about everything, things got even more charged. When he mentioned the fact that he ended up drawing her and thinking about her all the time, she blushed. When she mentioned that she was lost without him being around to do the stereotypically feminine things, he gave a laugh. And then, when that letter got brought up, she said one thing about how there was supposed to be an added message in it, but she couldn't send it; he pulled the letter from his pocket, handed it to her, and showed her that he had circled what she had tried to hide. There was romantic tension between them for a split second, before all sense was thrown out the window and they shared a real, passionate kiss, not quite on the level of a makeout, but just enough that they both came away a bit shaken.

_xvii. chocolate_

He had a week to spend with her before he had to go back out to the field, and that week was one of the more awkward weeks in both of their lives, as it was a time of trying to determine what they were in terms of a relationship. Were they together? Were they not? Neither of them wanted to bring it up with the other in case it wasn't the right time, and so the week went on with nothing happening on the romantic front, until they were once again at the airport, having to say their farewells, and he slipped her a note and a chocolate bar, which made her, this strong and collected woman, break down into tears.

_xviii. uninvited_

That note was not a confirmation that they were something, nor was it saying that they weren't. It was just a reminder that he would miss her and think of her every day until he got to come home for good, and although she had cried in front of him at the airport, the tears she shed after reading the note were most definitely uninvited. If she couldn't be strong in front of him, she definitely needed to be strong when he wasn't there, and displaying this sort of weakness was the last thing she needed to be doing.

_xix. army_

In his time he spent away with the army, Brick learned a lot about how strong he was as a person, although he was always comparing his accomplishments to the ones that Jo had. But no matter what he did or didn't do while he was gone, when he got to go home and be with her once more, it was the best feeling in the world to him. Getting to be the military man he had always dreamed of being was one thing.

_xx. impossible_

But being with the woman that he had thought it would be impossible to get to love him was another.

* * *

**A/N: The reason this was written was because Kaylabow requested a Jock fic from me, and the reason it's written this way is because a friend and I had a writing challenge thing where we wrote little bits of fic to word prompts. Everything came together beautifully, if you ask me. :D**


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